9 Suriyanelli gangrape accused move HC for bail

Nine accused in the Suriyanelli gangrape case on Wednesday moved the Kerala high court for bail.

The accused, who had been sentenced by the sessions court, are among the 35 acquitted by a division bench of the high court in 2005.

According to them, there was no material against them to prove the charges.

The Supreme Court had recently stayed the high court judgment and directed all the acquitted accused to surrender before the special court.

Dharmarajan, who had jumped bail, had recently been arrested from Karnataka and sent to jail. The high court had reduced his life term to five years. Following the apex court judgment, Dharmarajan has to undergo the rest of his prison term.

The case relates to a 16-year-old girl from Suryanelli in Kerala's Idukki district being abducted in January 1996 and being sexually exploited by different people.

Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien, who is alleged to be an accused, was acquitted in the case, but the victim recently named him as one of those who allegedly assaulted her in 1996.

She had also asked her advocate to explore the possibility of filing a review plea in the Supreme Court, seeking a fresh probe against Kurien, who has maintained that he had been cleared of the charges by the apex court.